Sunday, June 23, 2013

It all started about
6 weeks ago with the arrival of a great team from Nebraska. The team was from the home church of one of
the doctors.Nine Jesus loving servants
of God came with an incredible heart to serve here at the hospital. Four of them, over the age of 63.

Team Nebraska

A job well done - a new roof area for the medical caravan truck

The list of projects included raising a roof for the arrival
of the medical caravan truck from Quito, preparing sidewalks for concrete,
installing new brakes on the old tractor, painting and remodeling the small
houses for jungle guests who cannot afford housing and more.They worked incredibly hard and finished the
entire list! We had the pleasure of the team living right next door to our
house and really had a great time interacting with them.

Team Holland Christian in Papallacta

With barely enough time to prepare for the next arrival, we
had 2 teams arrive at the same time.The
first team was a Spanish class from Holland Christian High School in Holland,
Michigan.11 students and 4 adults arrived
in Quito, had a couple of days of touring
in Quito and arrived in Shell ready to go.The team painted 1 mission house and part of another house located on
the compound.The paint was peeling off
in sheets and in places was down to the bare brick so the work was appreciated.If you would like to read more about the
trip, please check out the blog they posted every day at:

Please take time to
read the last page with notes from the students about what God has showed them
while they were here.

That needs paint! Preparation is always the hard part

Our final team for the rest of the summer but not the rest
of the year, was a 21 person team from
the home church of another missionary doctor. This team was from Waco,
Texas.This team took on the big project
of painting the hospital and we knew the job could not be completed before they
even started, but the goal was to get as far as possible.They also took on the task of installing a
store room for the LP gas tanks used by the hospital.The painting crew was able to complete ½ of
the outside of the hospital and nearly all of the courtyard area.

Don't let him fall....

The rest of the crew was divided into a cement crew, metal
crew and tube installation crew.The
crews were able to pour all of the required concrete, install nearly 500 feet
of tubes, and cut all the metal for the grating.

It should be noted that the weather was less than stellar
throughout the week both teams were here.God provided just enough sun on Thursday morning to pour the concrete, and
other than that it rained the entire time both teams were here.What saved the painting project were the
large overhangs on the buildings that allowed everyone to continue to work.

We are thankful to those who came to serve and those who
helped to fund them. We pray you continue to serve wherever God plants you.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

The last time I blogged - I was praying for a rainbow. Rainbows remind me that God's promises are true and everlasting. I KNOW that fact but sometimes in the midst of bad news after bad news after more bad news - it is really nice to see visually the Promise. Well - the day after I blogged while I was outside washing our borrowed car, and contemplating the death of our friends little girl I looked to the east and there God provided me a rainbow - in its full splendor. I had to kneel down and cry.

Later that day I received an email from Christa, my dear friend and the mother of Christianna who suddenly passed away. This is part of what she wrote: The day before Christianna died she was the first to see a brilliant
rainbow at the namwianga orphanage. She said to Acacia- " I want to fly
on that rainbow". Just after she died God sent another rainbow over our
home where she died.